St. Charles students get healthy picks for lunch

Each year, a week is set aside by school food service technicians to help students, teachers and parents understand the healthful changes that are taking place in school meal programs throughout the different parishes. This year, National School Lunch Week is Oct. 15-19.

Ashton Johnson loads his plate down with healthy food like baked fish and cabbage. It appeared that he enjoyed the healthy food prepared for that day in the Destrehan High cafeteria.

According to the Center for Disease Control, childhood obesity affects 17 percent of all children and adolescents in the United States. That is triple the rate from one year ago. Educating and helping students to change their diets is one way the CDC hopes will help curb the rising epidemic.

Cynthia Ruffin, who has been the director of Child Nutrition Programs for the St. Charles Parish School System for more than 11 years, said that St. Charles’ system — like some neighboring school systems — has tried to offer students and teachers healthier choices, which include less fat and sugar, more whole grains and different fresh vegetables and fruits, long before it was federally mandated to do so.

“We have been in the forefront of changing student meal programs for several years now,” Ruffin said. “We are providing what we feel are better choices for them. For instance, we have been reducing the fats in our meals and offering a variety of both fresh fruits and vegetables. We also use more whole grain products in hopes of turning both our students and the faculty onto a healthier diet.”

Charlotte Greene, who is a main dish technician at Destrehan High, prepares healthly food for students for lunch.

In fact the students are hardly aware of some of the changes that are taking place, Ruffin said. During a recent visit to one lunch period at Destrehan High School, a group of students, Jessica Manzanarez, Crystal Quintero and Ana Hernandez, were all eating tacos. A choice they were able to make from one of the five food stations available.

When told they were eating turkey ground meat, which has less fat than the traditional taco filling of ground beef, they were surprised.

“This is turkey meat? Are you sure?” Manzanarez asked. Her friend, Quintero, said, “I can’t believe this is turkey meat.” And, Hernandez said, “All this time we have been eating turkey meat? This is unreal, but it taste good.”

It is music to Ruffin’s ears to hear those kinds of sentiments from the students.

“The technicians put a lot of effort into food preparation and service. They want to see the kids enjoy their food,” Ruffin said.

Charlotte Greene, who is a main dish technician at DHS, said seeing students’ enjoying her gumbo makes the changes she has had to make in food preparation all worth it.

“I have worked as a food technician for seven years now, and I have seen a lot of changes in the way we prepare our meals,” she said. “But come Friday, the kids come in for my gumbo. They love my gumbo. I had to work on the seasoning, like using less salt but I think I have it down pat now. I like seeing the kids enjoying what we cook,”

Gone are the fish sticks of yesterday replaced on the meal service line with fresh baked fish like paddock, fresh cooked cabbage and a well-stocked salad bar. Those are just a few of the choices students at Destrehan can choose from.

There are also pizzas and sandwiches both made from wheat with a higher grain count, as well as a more traditional hot lunch. No matter what the student choose for lunch they must have a fruit or a vegetable on the plate as well.

Junior Ashton Johnson loaded his plate down with the baked fish, red beans and rice, cabbage and a taco. It appeared that he enjoyed the food prepared for that day.

“It’s pretty good, if you ask me,” he said. “And when I hear that it is healthy, all I can say is bring it on. It tastes good and who knows, maybe I can maybe loose a few pounds.”

Ruffin said she hopes that in years to come that the meal programs served at the school will be carried over into the student and faculty’s home.

“My hope is that we continue to offer well-balanced, healthy menu choices to our students and that we become better at teaching and modeling healthy eating throughout the entire school system.”